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Saturday, November 12, 2016

How to knit a cozy autumn pillow in no time

A quick look
at the recent trends shows that knitted and crochet items are very hot this
season. Both for clothing and home décor, the knit is everywhere. There is no surprise then that I also found myself
diving in all kinds of knit (or crochet) goods. It seems I can’t get enough of
them. Now it’s time to move on something bigger – let’s make a buttoned pillow case.

For this
project you need thick yarn. Any type of yarn will do, but the wool or wool
blend will give you the ultimate autumn/winter cozy look. It is warm, durable
and easy to work with.

Materials

I chose yarn
in 3 colors that go well together – dark blue (C1), light grey (C2) and teal
(C3). You can choose whatever suits your home or preferences. The yarn is a 60%
wool/40% acrylic blend, 100 g/100 m (around 110 yards).

10 ½ US size
needles or cable needle

3 wooden
buttons

18 x 18 in
Ikea pillow for insert

A big
tapestry needle

Gauge

I knit rather
lose and my gauge was 10 sts x 16 rows. To save your time check your gauge
before you start your project!

Let’s begin!

First, decide
the order of your yarns for the front and back of the pillow. Label your yarns
for an easy reference later.

Front

Cast on 40
sts with C1.

Row 1: k1,
*k2, p2*, repeat ** till the last st, k 1

Row 2: k1,
*p2, k2*, repeat ** till the last st, k 1

Row 3: repeat
2nd row

Row 4: repeat
1st row

Repeat rows
1-4th eleven more times (12 in).

Then change
to C2 and knit 11 rows in st st.

Change to C3
and pp all sts on the next row (wrong side). Then work rows 1-4th five
times. Cast off.

At this point
the knitted piece will look as a rectangular and not as a square. This is
normal, it will spread out nicely on the pillow.

Row 4: k1,
work all sts as they appear, yo are worked in a manner which allow you to keep
the 2p x 2k pattern, k the last st.

Row 5 and 6:
k1, work all sts at they appear, k1.

Row 7 and all
the next: work in garter stitch for 8 in. Cast off.

At this point
you have all the three parts of the pillow ready. Bring them to the ironing
board. With your iron set on maximum steam, slightly block the pieces so the
tension on the yarn is released a bit. Don’t touch the pillow piece with the iron,
just run the iron above it and let the steam do its job.

Place your
pieces on a flat surface and prepare to sew them together. You can sew them as
you like, but I recommend the following way. Put pieces with the right side up.
Sew the ends tight together and continue working in the space between the last
and the cast off row. Go slowly one stitch at the time. The needle goes out
from one side, grabs a stitch from the other side and goes back in into the
same place of the first side, grabs a stitch and goes out. Continue like this (see
the picture). Tighten the thread form time to time to get an even and nice
edge. It is really an easy method to do
once you get the basics.

When you sew
the whole side tighten the thread but don’t make it too tight. Keep it around
17-18 inches. When you put the insert pillow inside the edge will not stretch
out as much as the other parts of the case.

Sew the other
side. Now you have a long rectangular. Fold the pillow case and put the back
pieces at place. Be sure to overlap the pieces so you can sew the buttons under
the button holes later. Fix the sides. Sew the sides of the pillow case. The
needle goes in the space between the last two stitches. Sew the buttons at
place. Insert the pillow into the case.

Voilà! Your
new pillow is ready!

And you are
ready to sit and read by the fire.

Vocabulary

k – knit

p – purl

k2tog – knit
two stitches together

p2tog – pur
two stitches together

st, sts –
stitch, stitches

st st –
stockinet stitch

yo – yarn
over

garter stitch
(back and forth) – k all sts

I am off to
my next pillow. Come back soon to see a knitted pillow case with a fabric back.